


Hunk Week 2018

by koganeisms (reiirae)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Birthday Fluff, Family Feels, Fluff, Gen, Homesickness, Hunk Week 2018, Panic Attacks, Stress Baking, Team as Family, these probably don’t cover everything
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-13
Updated: 2018-01-13
Packaged: 2019-03-04 12:04:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13364328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reiirae/pseuds/koganeisms
Summary: My Hunk Week 2018 fics! Happy birthday to the sweetest little ray of sunshine <3





	1. Love/Happiness

Hunk found love in a lot of things, really.

He loved his engineering career, first coming into fruition during his time at the Garrison. It was something he’d always had an interest in, and when it became a reality he couldn’t have been happier. The Garrison was the best place to further that aspect of his career, anyway. The entire experience was improved even more by his two best friends, Lance and Pidge, being a part of his simulation team and his roommates.

Friends were another source of great happiness for Hunk. He met Lance on his first day at the Garrison, and they hit it off straight away. Lance was approachable and funny, but he also learnt the boy was a loyal friend. They stuck together right from that first day, and rarely would an argument divide the pair. Pidge joined them a few weeks into the first term, when the pair had asked her to join their simulation team. She was all to happy to oblige, struggling to gather her own team as it were. They formed a strong bond, and in their second year they requested a larger room so Pidge could join them.

Another thing Hunk loved was his family. Both of his mothers were sweet and kind, albeit both carrying a fierce and defensive side. Growing up, Hunk had known nothing but his somewhat alternative family arrangement, and to this day he knew little about the identity of his biological father. Hunk’s biological mother had always told the boy he was a bad man, and she never wanted him to encounter his true father. Hunk hasn’t looked, admittedly. He has little interest when his family is perfect how it is. But he wasn’t an only child - his younger sister was both his best friend and the bane of his existence. They argued and bickered constantly, play fighting all the time; but there were good times too, where the pair got along well. She had her mother’s fiery attitude - something Hunk lacked - leading to several disagreements with their parents. But everything was fixed rapidly; arguments never lasted long in the Garrett household.

Then there were his unrelated family - Team Voltron. Despite already knowing Lance and Pidge well, and having been taught by Shiro on occasion, Hunk joined the team feeling somewhat alone. He was surrounded by people with years of piloting experience, and yet he’d never flown a plane in his life - yet alone a lion that doubled as a weapon. But the team were nothing but supportive, with Shiro taking extra time to catch Hunk up the abilities off the other team members. Sure, it took much longer for the boy to figure out the controls and gain the necessary confidence, but the support and love from his team was all he needed. He grew closer to all the members, even Allura and Coran, and he realised he would die for the people surrounding him.

Hunk also loved to cook. In both Earth and in space, Hunk would cook all the time. His mothers had baked with him for years, and eventually he began to cook everyone’s meals within the family. He didn’t begrudge it; after all, he greatly enjoyed cooking for the people he loves. Over the years, the boy found himself trying more ambitious recipes as he improved, and even once he’d left home to join the Garrison he continued to cook for himself and his friends. His meagre student budget had obviously made attempting complex meals difficult, but Hunk would still make the most of his minimal options. Lance and Pidge were always extremely thankful - without Hunk they’d be living off fast food and ready meals, so they couldn’t really complain. 

He loved the Yellow Lion, too. From the moment Lance and himself had found the mechanical lion, Hunk had struck up quite the friendship with his lion. He found that Yellow was similar to himself in many ways, and he appreciate the strength of the lion to protect him from the fierce battles Voltron often found itself wound up in. He would be far too terrified to be in a different lion, and so he appreciated both Allura and Yellow’s decision to take him on. 

When it came down to it, though, his friends and family came before anything else in the world. Despite his anxious nature, Hunk would do anything for his parents, his sister, his teammates, even at the cost of his own life. That was the reason he was with Voltron, he reasoned; although they might not know it right now, he was helping defend his home planet from the evils of Zarkon. Whenever he felt homesick, he’d remind himself of this fact, and even though it would never completely dissipate the sadness at leaving his home, it made him feel better. He was doing this for the greater good.

He was the one people came to when they needed to be cheered up or wanted to vent - Hunk was the person they trusted to listen without judgement, offer helpful advice, make them laugh. Lance and Shiro were likely his most regular companions; Lance would often come to talk to him because they were best friends after all, and to vent his frustrations. Hunk was the only person that Lance felt safe to voice his insecurities around, and he was quick to reassure the Cuban boy that he wasn’t going anywhere, the team loved him, he was important and loved and completely irreplaceable. 

Shiro surprised Hunk at first, because he appeared somewhat closed off to the group initially. But Hunk quickly learnt that although Shiro gave off the image of a strong, confident leader, he was tired and worn-out. Around Hunk, Shiro let his guard down. The traumas of his previous kidnapping still haunted him, and Hunk often found himself cradling a sobbing Shiro in his arms during the late hours of the night.

He’d say he saw the least of Pidge, probably, because she spent most of her time in her room, developing new technology and frantically searching every possible avenue for her brother. But he always made sure to check on her every so often, bringing her food when she became so invested in her work she accidentally missed meals and forcing her to sleep. Sometimes she wouldn’t sleep - couldn’t sleep, knowing her brother was out there and anything could be happening to him right now and she wasn’t there to help him - so Hunk would sit up with her, talking reassuringly. Some nights she’d fall asleep, some nights she wouldn’t. It didn’t really matter to Hunk, so longer as she was okay and caught it up eventually. 

Most surprisingly, he found himself talking with Keith more and more as time went on; considering the teenager’s perpetual anger, it was only natural he’d seek out Hunk eventually. When they’d first met back at the Garrison. Hunk had to admit he was terrified. Keith was lethal and reckless, snatching the spot Lance had desired so badly and stirring up quite the hatred. Upon hearing the news that Keith had finally been expelled and Lance had taken the place in his fighter pilot class, Hunk breathed a metaphorical sigh of relief. It meant the end of the constant tension between his best friend and the dangerous boy he considered his rival. So when he encountered Keith again and realised he was going to be on a team with him, he was apprehensive to say the least. 

But Keith wasn’t as bad as he first thought. Under the layer of aggression and sarcasm was a genuinely nice guy. The pair were often found laughing and joking, which was almost surprising considering how little anyone heard Keith laugh. Hunk didn’t push Keith for information, and the boy didn’t really offer much anyway. Even at his most relaxed, Keith still kept his walls up. Hunk hoped one day he’d let at least one the team members, whether it be him or someone completely different. He carried the weight of the world on his shoulders, and Hunk wanted to help him carry that burden. But pushing Keith would never work, he’d only retreat in on himself further; if he was ever going to tell his story, it would be on his own terms.

Overall, Hunk was happy a lot of the time. There were always moments where he’d think back to his family on Earth, praying they were doing okay and they didn’t miss him too much. He’d always been one to find the bright side of a situation, even when things looked dire and nobody had the motivation to cheer themselves up, let alone the people surrounding them. When they lost battles or failed missions, Hunk would be the first one to try and distract the team, pull them out of their shared guilt and annoyance. Usually this worked well, and the sting of failure was diminished fairly quickly.

Hunk was like a ray of sunshine to Team Voltron - warm, comforting and bright. A beacon in the dark; a symbol of happiness.


	2. Battle/Team

Hunk had always had a lot of respect for Shiro, from his days at the Garrison to now. He was a natural leader, anybody could see that much, and his sheer determination and talent made him even more than just that. He’d survived being captured and tortured by the Galra for God knows how long, after all. So he had nothing against Shiro becoming the head of Voltron, leading their newly formed team into practically every battle they fought.

Hunk likes the unity being a team brought. Sure, he was already close to Lance and Pidge before the team was formed, but getting to know Shiro, one of his childhood idols, and the previously unreachable Keith was something Hunk loved. He was a people person through and through, even though he was often too anxious to try speaking to anyone who didn’t talk to him first. Being forced together made is somewhat easier, because he had no reason to fear these people. 

At first, he didn’t like being left alone with Shiro or Keith, too nervous to form any kind of conversation, and he’d usually just tail Lance around the ship. The Cuban boy didn’t seem to mind; he avoided Keith most of the time as it was, and Shiro was often busy in the early days, learning as much as possible about Voltron and the Galra from Allura and Coran. 

Shiro learnt a lot from the two Alteans in a short space of time, both about the Galra and Voltron. Combined with his prior experiences with the Galra, he was able to guide the team effectively when it came to infiltration and guard patterns, plus various recollections of the basic layout for the standard Galra battleships made it much easier for the team to navigate undetected. All of his inside intelligence was invaluable to the team - without it, their missions would be dramatically more difficult. 

He grew more comfortable around Shiro quite quickly. The man clearly wanted to bring the team together as much as possible, both for the sake of forming Voltron and because he believed as a team, they should all be able to trust each other. He made extra effort to become better acquainted with Pidge, Lance and Hunk, having known and taught Keith most of the smaller male’s life. Shiro helped Hunk out a lot, looking back - he’d had the least piloting experience of them all, and the older man had spent hours working with Hunk to get his skills up to scratch. He’d never be able to fully repay Shiro for all the effort he put in, but he hoped he could please his leader by doing all he could in battle.

And so when Shiro was taken for a second time by the Galra, Hunk was devastated; all of them were. The team fell apart without their leader; Keith and Lance’s bickering became endless; Pidge spent even more time holed up in her room; Hunk found himself spending more time than ever with Coran, working on improvements for the castle and making mundane chatter to fill the tense silence that fell upon the entire castle. It felt as if the whole team took three steps back once Shiro was gone. 

When Keith took over as leader, everyone had been apprehensive. Everybody knew Keith for his angry, reckless temperament; even Hunk had doubts that Keith would be able to take over the Black Lion successfully and lead the them the way Shiro had. There was already tension between Keith and Lance, which wasn’t helping his case, and Keith quickly cracked under the pressure of being the leader. Hunk couldn’t help but worry for the future of his team - they were the universe’s only hope, and he couldn’t bear the thought of more planets being enslaved under Zarkon while they were unable to fight.

They’d returned from their last battle with Lotor disheartened, to say the least. All of them were trying their best not to take out their frustrations on Keith, who already seemed to feel guilty enough for their failure, although Hunk could sense the tension fizzling beneath the surface. Anybody could see the team was clearly fractured, and they’d only given Lotor an easy target. They returned to the castleship in silence, and instead of the regular debriefing they split up and went their own ways.

Hunk hesitated momentarily before following Keith, knocking anxiously at his door. There was no response for a few moments, before a voice called out, “What do you want?”

“Can I come in?” Hunk asked cautiously, biting at his bottom lip. He didn’t know just how upset Keith was right now, and he really didn’t want to risk the older boy lashing out at him. There was a resigned sigh from behind the door before the hiss of the release could be heard and it was opened.

“Sure.” he mumbled, moving aside to let Hunk in.

“I don’t blame you for today, Keith…” Hunk began, and the shorter boy sighed, shoulders slumping forwards.

“You don’t have to be nice about it. I fucked up, and I know it.” 

Hunk frowned, shaking his head. “Keith, you’re under enough pressure as it is with losing Shiro and getting thrown into his place.” 

“And I should be able to handle that pressure better.” Keith countered.

“Don’t beat yourself up over this. Please.” Hunk murmured, reaching out to place a large hand on Keith’s shoulder. “I mean it when I say I’m not mad at you. I’m more worried than anything. I don’t want you to get mad at yourself for no reason when you’re already under way too much pressure.”

Keith cracked slightly, his muscles relaxing at Hunk’s touch. “Yeah. I just...I’m not the leader Shiro thought I was. I don’t have what he has.” he mumbled, staring down at the ground. “I don’t have what it takes to lead you guys.”

“Yes, you do.” Hunk murmured, gently lifting Keith’s chin to lock eyes with him. “Shiro wouldn’t pick someone he didn’t think could lead, and neither would the Black Lion. It’s not working out how you want it to right now, but you didn’t learn to pilot Red overnight.” the boy pointed out.

The Korean boy nodded slowly, a soft sigh escaping as he did so. “I don’t want to waste time training while Lotor is out there. He knows by now that we’re weakened, even if he doesn’t know Shiro isn’t with us anymore.” 

“If you don’t give yourself chance to practise piloting Black, though, we’ll probably be less successful when we next encounter him.” Hunk answered, a soft frown marring his features. 

Keith shook his head, running a hand through his hair despairingly. “I know. I don’t know what to do right now, Hunk, I-“ his breath caught in his throat, and he didn’t attempt to continue. He crumpled under Hunk’s touch, and before the taller man realised Keith had thrown himself against his chest.

“Ssh, it’s okay, Keith,” Hunk soothed, rubbing small circles into the small of the boy’s back. “You’re okay.” 

“I-I’m sorry.” he mumbled, voice muffled. “I shouldn’t act like this, you probably don’t want me on you.” he panicked and tried to pull away, but Hunk kept a firm grip on the boy.

“No. Don't apologise, Keith, you’ve done nothing wrong. I know how hard this is for you.”

“I just want Shiro back.” he whimpered, his voice filled with grief and sadness. “I don’t wanna be leader. I don’t want anyone to lead except Shiro. He’s the best at that.”

“I know, Keith, but you’re a good leader too. You just need time to adjust.” Hunk murmured softly, slowly pulling away from Keith to look down at him and meet his eyes. “I know you can do this. You really think Shiro would say he wants you to lead Voltron if he didn’t think you could?”

“W-Well...no…” Keith mumbled shyly, shaking his head minutely, “But he’s never seen me lead before. He has no idea whether or not I can.”

“But he knows you. He wouldn’t pick just anyone for the Black Lion. Surely you of all people know that.” 

“Yeah. I guess.” Keith responded, wiping furiously at his eyes to remove the slight traces of the few tears he’d shed. “I- uh...thanks, Hunk.”

Hunk simply smiled, hugging the small boy tightly once again before gently releasing it. “You know you can always talk to me, right?” he reminded.

“Yeah. T-Thanks.” Keith mumbled, voice still shaky from his earlier outburst. 

“Anytime, Keith.” Hunk reassured, smiling brightly. “You know where to find me.”

Keith just nodded, and Hunk figured the boy was finished speaking. Taking this as his cue to leave, he smiled at the boy once more before leaving the room.

It’d definitely take Keith some time to adjust, but he knew deep down that Shiro had absolutely made the right decision to select Keith to lead the team.


	3. Heritage/Home

Moving to the Garrison had been more of a challenge than Hunk could have ever expected. When he first received his acceptance letter, excitement clouded the rational side of his brain, and he didn’t really consider the logistics until later on. And when it hit him that he wouldn’t be able to live in Samoa anymore, he wasn’t quite sure how to feel about it. Hunk loved his family, his neighbours, his country. Being taken away from it all...he wasn’t sure if that was really the best idea for him.

When he explained to his mothers how he was feeling, they both convinced him to go. He could always come back when he’d finished studying, and during holiday breaks, they’d reasoned. There would always be room for him back home. Hunk knew they were right - of course they were, they always are - but he still couldn’t bear the thought of leaving his home behind for three years at least. What if something happened to them while he was gone? Anything could happen, and Hunk wasn’t sure if he could take the risk of leaving them behind.

Eventually, he was convinced. And so on his final day in Samoa, half of the neighbourhood made an appearance at Hunk’s home to wish him luck and say their farewells. They lived in a tight-knit community, and Hunk’s gentle personality earned him a soft spot in many people’s hearts - their house was busy all day with various guests. Some brought him gifts of food to take with him, to remind him of Samoa when he was gone, and others left small amounts of money to help contribute towards living abroad. His schooling fees had been covered by a scholarship, thankfully, but having somewhere to live alongside food, water, electricity and basic school supplies was another matter completely.

He spent most of the flight worrying incessantly about his family and friends back home, even though he knew deep down they’d be perfectly fine without him and he was just being paranoid. Paranoid was Hunk’s speciality, if he were completely honest, and no matter how hard he tried to distract himself his mind would always wander back to disaster befalling his whole family.

It was mid-afternoon by the time Hunk arrived at the Garrison. He was taken aback by the sheer size of the prestigious school - he knew it was big, of course, but being stood in front of it was completely different to seeing pictures of it in glossy prospectuses. Part of him couldn’t believe he was actually here, ready to start training at the school he’d set his heart on as a child. Becoming an engineer was a way to fulfill his own dreams as well as make his family and neighbourhood proud and hopefully help to support his parents. They were by no means poor, but they would often struggle to make ends meet towards the end of each month. Hunk wanted to alleviate the financial pressure on his parents - he knew how hard they’d both worked for him and his younger sister, and he would do anything to repay them for that. 

It didn’t fully register to him until he was inside that he didn’t know a soul here. Back in Samoa, he’d known everyone in the area - here, he didn’t even know who to look at. There were so many people; students, teachers, parents alike. Hunk gazed around in confusion, figuring the best thing to do would be to figure out where his room is. He’d opted for the on-site accommodation for ease, and he was fine with the requirement of sharing with another student. Hopefully he’d get someone similar to him, or at least somebody who wasn’t too irritating. 

There was a large, grey noticeboard with large sheets of paper pinned to it, which had quickly gathered a crowd of students and parents. Hunk made his way towards it quietly, trying not to jostle people around too much. It didn’t take him long to reach the front of the small crowd though, and he quickly scanned his eyes over the text printed on each sheet. One was a timetable plan for their first day; three of them contained lists of students in each form; and then his eyes hit the accommodation list he was looking for. In seconds, he’d picked out his name and memorised his room number, as well as his roommate's name - Lance McClain. 

He arrived at his room with minimal fuss, only having to stop once to ask someone for directions. Now he was stood outside the polished wooden door of his room, a gold-plated plaque nailed halfway up with the number ‘10’ printed onto it. Hunk briefly wondered if he should knock, unsure as to whether or not his roommate had arrived yet, but before he could make a decision he was interrupted by a voice. 

“Hey! Are you Hunk Garrett?” the voice called, and Hunk turned to see a tall, skinny, tan boy practically bouncing down the corridor towards him. He nodded dumbly, a little shocked at the sudden appearance of the other male, and the tan boy broke into a huge smile. “Nice to meet you! I’m Lance, your roommate.” he explained, offering a hand to Hunk. 

He smiled weakly and shook it, clearing his throat before replying. “Hey. I’m Hunk. But, uh, you already knew that.”

The male laughed brightly, nodding enthusiastically as he pushed the door open. “You don’t understand how thankful I am,” Lance called out, tossing his suitcase to land on the top bunk of the their bed. “Last time I had a roommate, he was super weird. He didn’t really speak English well, which wasn’t his fault, but he was always tryna get me to try all the drugs that he came across. He was kinda like a dealer for the kids at my school.” he finished, leaning against the bedpost. “Please tell me you’re not a high school drug dealer.” 

Hunk shook his head, laughing slightly. “Nope, never touched drugs in my life, too scared in future.” he joked, earning a vibrant smile from the boy. 

“Good. I don’t know if I could deal with that _again_.” Lance whined, and Hunk couldn’t help but smile. He liked Lance - the boy’s loud personality was a welcome change for him. Back home, he came from a family of quiet personalities; only when they argued did anybody really raise their voices. Lance’s voice seemed to be a perpetual shout, however, and although this wasn’t something Hunk was used to, he quite like the difference. 

For the next hour or so, the pair lapsed into silence as they busied themselves with unpacking. This wasn’t anything out of the ordinary for Hunk, being little of a conversationalist himself. Lance seemed to have brought half of his home and managed to cram it all into a suitcase, given the immense volume of objects he seemed to be removing from it and the amount of time it was taking to find places for all of them. “Hey, Hunk.” Lance called out, to which Hunk raised his head and fixed his eyes on the taller boy.

“Yeah?”

“Where are you, like, from?” Lance asked, perching on the side of his bed. “You don’t have an American accent, so…” he trailed off, a frown flashing across his face. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

“No, it’s fine,” Hunk replied, smiling gently at Lance. “I’m from Samoa.”

“Samoa? That’s so cool!” Lance squeaked, eyes glittering with excitement. “What’s it like there?” 

“It’s...nice. Where I live, everyone gets along really well, and it’s a really nice community. My family don’t have a lot, but we have enough to live on.” Hunk murmured, his expression becoming fond.

“Do you come from a small family?” Lance questioned, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah. It’s just me, my moms and my sister.” Hunk answered, and Lance beamed back at him.

“That sounds really nice.” he commented, tilting his head to one side and resting it on the back of a hand, “I bet you really miss them.”

“Yeah, I do.” Hunk mumbled, ducking his head slightly. “But I have a lot of reminders. I always cooked for my family, so I know how to make a lot of traditional dishes, and I have photos of everyone there too.” he reasoned, his voice gaining a sudden fondness at the memories of his family and friends back home. Lance nodded thoughtfully, smiling back at Hunk

“I’m from Cuba, so I get how you feel.” he murmured, meeting Hunk’s eye. “But hey, we can always go back to visit, and it’s always a part of us even if we’re miles away, right?”

Hunk nodded his agreement, a warm feeling spreading through his chest. He might miss his home, but Lance was lovely and he had a feeling they’d get along well. He was right - Hunk carried a part of Samoa with him regardless of how far away from home he was.


	4. Family/Friends

It was almost the end of Hunk’s Friday shift, and the young man could feel the ache of exhaustion setting in as he finished drying another glass. He let out a sigh as he placed it down, bracing his hands against the metal kitchentop. 

“Hey, Hunk, you leaving soon?” chimed a voice off to the side. Hunk turned to see Lance leaning against the doorframe, and he felt a smile crawl across his features. 

“Yeah, just lemme finish drying these up. Keith is gonna throw one if he gets here tomorrow and finds all the glasses dirty.” Hunk answered, picking up another glass and beginning to dry it. 

“Want me to grab your stuff for you?” Lance offered, pushing off the doorframe to stand up straight.

Hunk nodded gratefully, not taking his eyes of the glass in his hands. “If you don’t mind. I won’t be too much longer.” he promised, setting down another dry glass. Lance made an affirmative noise before Hunk heard his footsteps moving out of the room. 

He let out a breath as he finished off drying the last two glasses, placing his towel aside and stretching his arms above his head. He didn’t begrudge his job at all - it paid well, his hours weren’t dreadful, and he was pretty good friends with everyone working there. 

Lance was busy chatting in the backroom when Hunk arrived, surrounded by a small group of other staff members. There were mere minutes before closing, and it was late at night anyway, so most of the staff had moved into the backroom. Hunk joined the circle with a smile, positioning himself next to Pidge. “Hey guys. Did I miss much?”

“Nah, not really.” Matt replied, smiling brightly. “Haven’t seen you since I got here. How’ve you been, Hunk?” the young man asked, and Hunk felt a familiar warmth spread through his chest. There was nothing more important to him than his friends.

“I’m doing okay. Heard anything back from university yet?” Hunk asked, and Matt shook his head.

“Nothing yet. It’ll probably be a few more weeks before I hear anything, really.” he answered, a soft sigh escaping. “I hate waiting.”

“It’ll be over soon, though, Matt.” Shiro reassured, placing a hand on the smaller man’s shoulder. “You’ll get a letter before you know it.” 

Matt perked up a little, the characteristic sparkle returning to his eyes. “I know! And until then, I have all of you guys to torture.” he added mischeviously, earning a groan from Pidge. 

“Go close up, Matt.” Pidge muttered, shaking her head at her brother.

“Why don’t you?” the man retorted defiantly, looking away. “I’m pretty sure it’s your turn to close up, anyway?” 

Pidge shook her head, tossing the keys to the man. “Nope. I did it last night. Have fun, Matthew!” she called over her shoulder as she walked away to collect her bag. Matt groaned dramatically, making a point of searching through the keys.

Lance laughed from beside Keith, shaking his head at Matt. “Dude, you’d do anything she tells you too. She’s, like, years younger than you, and she still bosses you around.”

Matt rolled his eyes, sighing once again. “Don’t remind me. It’s not my fault she’s so convincing.” he protested weakly, earning another round of laughs from all of the others. 

“Just do it, Hunk.” Keith murmured, shaking his head. “You don’t want her to come back and yell at you, do you?” Matt shook his head rapidly, scurrying off to lock up the front doors. “He’s so scared of her. It’s kinda funny.” the male laughed, watching his friend exit.

Hunk laughed, shaking his head. “They’re real different, huh?” 

“You’d think Matt would know better than to let his little sister boss him around.” Lance joked, shaking his head in disbelief. “Honestly, Pidge could tell him to jump off a cliff and he’d do it.”

“I don’t want to test that theory.” Shiro laughed, leaning back against the wall. “I was thinking, if you don’t already have any plans tonight, how would you all feel about coming back to mine? I’ve got drinks in, and I don’t really feel like drinking alone.” he offered, glancing around the group.

“Don’t see why not. I was only gonna go home anyway.” Keith murmured, nodding slowly. 

“Yeah, I’ll come.” Hunk chimed in, smiling at the older man. “Lance, you coming too?”

“You know I am.” Lance replied, raising an eyebrow. “What kinda guy turns down free alcohol, anyway?”

The group laughed just as Pidge reappeared, peering suspiciously at them all. “What’s so funny?” she asked, frowning at Shiro. “Who broke something?”

“Nobody, Pidge,” Shiro replied, laughing again. “I invite all of you over to mine for drinks.” 

“Well, maybe you should invite me when I’m around.” Pidge joked, raising her eyebrows. “I’ll be there. I guess we just gotta wait for Matt, huh?”

“What are we waiting for Matt for?” the aforementioned man called out, strolling back into the backroom with the keys swinging from his long fingers. “Did I do something wrong?”

“We’re going to Shiro’s. Get your stuff.” Pidge replied simply, laughing at Matt’s shocked expression. “For drinks, you idiot.” 

“Oh. Yeah. Well, in that case, I won’t be a sec.” Matt called, already walking towards the small cloakroom.

It didn’t take the group long to gather their belongings and set off on the short walk to Shiro’s house. The man had recently moved out of his apartment into a small, modern house a few streets away from their workplace. It was a nice place, Hunk thought, with everything Shiro could possibly need for the time being. He knew things were getting pretty serious in love life anyway, so having a stable housing situation would likely be beneficial.

It wasn’t a particularly cold night in Hunk’s opinion, but even so half the group had bundled up in thick winter coats and scarves - it was December, Hunk reasoned. Lance walked close to him, occasionally bumping his arm against the shorter male’s. The walk was short and silent, and once they reached Shiro’s home they were thankful for the warmth.

Shiro led them into the living room before disappearing off to the kitchen, fetching drinks for the group. “It’s a nice place, huh?” Pidge murmured, perching on the edge of a sofa beside Lance.

“For what he paid, it’s not bad.” Keith agreed, looking around the room approvingly. “It’s a damn site better than what he had before, that’s for sure. That apartment was falling to pieces.”

“You should see Matt’s. I’m surprised his whole apartment block is still standing.” Pidge muttered, rolling her eyes. “You could probably find somewhere so much better for the same price, y’know.”

“I mean, yeah, but I don’t really need anything new. I barely spend any time in my apartment anyway.” Matt reasoned, leaning back into the plush sofa. “It’s just somewhere for me to eat and sleep. The rent’s cheap, so I’ll stick there unless something really good comes up.”

“Out of us all, Lance has the best apartment.” Hunk piped up, glancing at his friend. “It’s basically a house.” 

“Nah, it’s not that great. It’s just big.” Lance replied, raising an eyebrow. “You’ve got a pretty good place, Hunk. And the rent price is decent.” 

“It’s nice. I’ve got my eye out for other stuff, though,” Hunk mused, resting his chin on the back of his hand. “There’s a chance something nice will come up for a similar price sometime, and I’d like to move closer to the city centre. I’m a bit far out for my liking.” 

“Makes sense. It takes you ages to get to work.” Lance nodded, perking up again when Shiro reentered. “Hey, Shiro. Just in time to hear us tear apart each other’s interior design skills.”

“Interior design? That’s our next conversation topic?” Keith asked incredulously, earning an affectionate laugh from Shiro as he sat down beside the smaller man.

“Yep. And since you seem so keen to start, I’d like to start by saying you’re the worst interior designer I’ve ever met, Keith Kogane. I don’t know what makes you think black is a good colour for walls, but I promise you it just makes the space look smaller-“ Lance began, but he was quickly cut off by Keith.

“I like it. It’s not like you have to live there.” he shot back, frowning at the Cuban. “Anyway, your apartment is just full of trash. Clearly you don’t know how to throw away stuff you don’t need.” 

“I’ll have you know my house is full of valuable property,” Lance retorted, pouting dramatically. “I only keep the finest of possessions.”

“Lance, that’s bullshit and we all know it.” Pidge called out, rolling her eyes at Lance’s death glare. 

As the three broke out into an argument about who’s interior design skills were superior, Hunk couldn’t help but feel a smile creep across his face. There was nothing he loved more than being surrounding by his friends - they were practically his second family now - even if all they did was squabble incessantly and debate over the most unimportant topics in the world. They were the people who meant the most to Hunk, and he couldn’t think of anywhere he’d rather be.


	5. Comfort/Safety

For someone like Hunk, the idea of becoming a defender of the universe and piloting a giant mechanical lion seemed like his idea of hell. If it were up to him, he’d go home and curl up in his bed, forget everything had just happened and sleep. But that wasn’t an option in this situation, and so he found himself being giving a crash course in piloting by Shiro and becoming a paladin of Voltron. 

He was terrified. The whole idea threw him way out his comfort zone - he was an engineer, not a pilot! This wasn’t anything Hunk had ever been comfortable with, and even with Shiro’s help he was still easily the most inexperienced member of the team. He couldn’t keep up with everyone else, especially when his fear of death and injury had been sent into overdrive. But he tried to keep a happy demeanour around the team, cracking jokes and pretending he was totally okay with the situation. He didn’t want to make anyone worry. Besides, he couldn’t drag them all down with his own lack of confidence. That was his problem, not theirs.

But this facade became difficult to maintain, and as the battles they fought grew more and more intense, Hunk’s fear began to pick up. Now he wasn’t only afraid for himself, but for the teammates he’d grown to love. If anything happened to any of them, Hunk wasn’t sure he’d know what to do. He shared a particularly close bond with Pidge and Lance after their time at the Garrison, but Shiro had shown him nothing but kindness and Keith could be nice on occasion if you got to know him a bit. The thought of them getting injured, or even worse killed, nagged at Hunk’s mind constantly. The thought of somebody being kidnapped by the Galra the way Shiro had been, the idea of losing somebody in space and never being able to see them again - it haunted Hunk, and those thoughts intruded at the worst times.

Slowly the other team members began to pick up on the subtle shifts in Hunk’s behaviour. Keith was the first to notice the changes - he became less vocal during missions unless it was to voice his panic, he often shied away in training, he was quieter during team meetings and debriefings. Both Lance and Shiro had expressed concern when Hunk wasn’t around, and Keith couldn’t disagree with the pair. Something was clearly wrong, and the headstrong teen was determined to find out what was bothering him. 

Keith’s rigorous training schedule meant he spent long hours in the training room, and it wasn’t until later in the evening that Hunk heard a knock at his door. He hit the release after a few moments, and he couldn’t help the surprise that crossed his face at the sight of Keith stood before him. “K-Keith? Is something wrong?” he stammered, taking a step back to give the shorter boy room to enter.

“Yeah. I need to talk to you.” Keith replied simply, walking into the room. Hunk closed to door and followed his teammate, playing with his thumbnail nervously. 

“Did I do something wrong? Am I in trouble?” Hunk panicked, eyes widening. “Is it one of the others? Oh God, did someone get hurt?”

Keith shook his head, gesturing for Hunk to sit down. “Nothing happened, and you’re not in trouble. It’s nothing like that at all.” he murmured, perching on the edge of Hunk’s bed. “It’s about you.”

Hunk made a questioning noise, eyes fixed on Keith as the boy made himself comfortable. “What about me?”

“Ever since the Balmera mission, you’ve been more jittery than usual. I know you’re new to this, but you don’t seem to be getting any less anxious - you’re probably acting even more scared if you ask me. I woulda thought you’d have been at least a little less afraid by now.” Keith explained, his expression softening. “I don’t wanna pressure you, but...if you wanna talk about it, I’m here to listen.” 

Hunk hesitated for a few minutes, confused by Keith’s words. This was Keith - cold, reserved, quiet. He didn’t speak much, especially not about his feelings, and it shocked Hunk momentarily that Keith was so willing to listen to him if he opened up. 

It took a few moments for him to find the words to answer, and when he did he could hear the shaking of his voice. “I- uh, it’s…” he began, breaking off to try and stabilise his voice a little. “I’m scared, Keith. I don’t wanna get hurt, and I don’t want any of you guys to get hurt even more. These missions get more dangerous every day, and I...I’m scared one day we’re gonna come back without someone, or there’s gonna be serious injuries, or…” he trailed off, aware of his breath becoming shorter and shorter.

Keith didn’t speak - he just moved closer to Hunk and wrapped an arm around him lightly. The touch was comforting and warm, and it grounded Hunk as he learnt against the smaller male. “It’s okay, Hunk. I get it.” he whispered. “I know you’re scared. It makes sense for you to be afraid. After all, it is pretty dangerous out here.” 

Hunk nodded tensely, leaning against the warmth of Keith for support. Despite his small frame, Keith was surprisingly strong - he took Hunk’s weight easily, and the contact between them was comforting. 

“I can’t make any promises here, because you and I both know anything could happen. But we’re a team, and if somebody does get injured we’ll find a way to fix them up. Those healing pods worked before, and Coran says as long as the ship has power they’ll be able to heal us whenever we need. As for anybody dying…” he trailed off for a few moments, searching for the right words. “It’s a lot less likely thanks to the lions. They give us a lot of protection in battle, and they’re a lot sturdier than the fighter jets back on Earth. It’s a lot safer for us in those lions, I can promise you that. It’d take a lot to kill someone in those, and that’s where most of the combat takes place.” 

“I-I guess…” Hunk whispered, his voice trembling uncontrollably. Keith shifted into a better position to hold Hunk close, running a hand reassuringly through his hair. 

“We’re gonna be okay, Hunk.” he murmured soothingly, resting his chin lightly on the taller boy’s shoulder. “Shiro’s a good leader - if he thought a situation was too risky he’d tell us to drop back and disengage. I’ve worked with him enough times to know that.”

“Y-Yeah…” he murmured, playing with the hem of his shirt distractedly. Keith gently gripped his chin to tilt his head upwards, violet eyes meeting deep brown. The boy couldn’t help but feel his heart pang at the fear in Hunk’s eyes, revealing just how deep his anxiety ran.

“Please try not to worry so much. We’ve got each other’s backs, and super powerful weapons to help.” Keith smiled briefly, a rare feat for the small male. “I don’t wanna see you like this. I don’t wanna see _anyone_ from our team like this.”

Hunk tried to duck his head, frowning slightly. “I-I’m sorry…” he mumbled shyly.

“Don’t apologise when you have nothing to apologise for. I know why you’re scared. It’s okay to be afraid - even I don’t like it out here sometimes. None of us are used to this. We just gotta work through it as best we can. We’re doing this for the universe and for our homes, Hunk. You’re doing something so important right now, and that’s what matters more than anything.” 

Hunk nodded his agreement silently, eyes never leaving Keith’s face. “Thanks, Keith.” 

“You know where to find me if you ever need to talk again.” Keith replied, moving to get up. Hunk pulled him back down though, biting his lip anxiously. 

“Please...don’t go just yet. I don’t wanna be alone.” he asked quietly, avoiding eye contact. He felt Keith’s muscles relax beside him, and the boy looked back down at him.

“I won’t. I’m here, Hunk.” Keith replied, moving back into the position they’d been in moments prior. He let Hunk rest his head on his chest, still running his fingers through the boy’s hair and playing with the bandana wrapped around his head.

It didn’t magically cure Hunk’s fear of death, both his own or his teammates, but it felt better to lean on the comfort of Keith’s words while he found his feet again. It wasn’t the safest job in the world, but he found safety in his teammates - more like family now, really - and that was the most important thing to Hunk.


	6. Baking/Cooking

If there was one thing Hunk truly enjoyed, it was cooking. He learnt to cook from a young age, soon beginning to cook for his whole family, taking the responsibility from his parents as soon as he was old enough to make enough food for them all. He loved learning new recipes to try, and as he grew older he would attempt more complex and ambitious recipes that were shared by neighbours and friends alike. He’d often make more food than necessary to share with the people in his small home village - nobody would turn down Hunk’s cooking once they’d tried something he’d made.

It was Hunk’s way of repaying his family for the sacrifices they’d made. They’d done a lot for Hunk, and he could never forget that. Raising the money to allow Hunk to follow his dreams and join the Galaxy Garrison was no small feat, but both his mothers had worked tirelessly to fundraise and spread the news to anybody they met. Hunk often provided baked goods at their fundraisers - he wanted to help as much as possible, after all - and once the monetary goal was met he had never seen such relief on his parents’ faces. He would never forget the moment he was told that they’d finally raised enough money to let him go to the Garrison, that he could leave and become the engineer he’d always dreamed of becoming. Hunk was nothing but thankful for his loving, hard-working mothers. Cooking for them took some of the pressure off their shoulders; they could do others things while Hunk ensures the family was well provided for. 

When he moved to the Garrison, Hunk immediately assumed cooking duties after he saw the mess Lance could make of a simple slice of toast on their first morning there. He knew Lance was quietly grateful - if it weren’t for Hunk, he’d have likely poisoned himself by now. He did seem to have some kind of cooking ability, admittedly, but it was extremely inconsistent. He was easily distracted, which could lead to disastrous cooking times - Lance once gave him the story of how he almost burned his kitchen down making pizza once. The boy did provide Hunk with a variety of Cuban recipes his family used, though, and he was grateful for the additions to his ever-expanding culinary knowledge.

Pidge also appreciated Hunk’s cooking once she moved in with the pair. She confessed to living off whatever she could buy cheaply, having little to no cooking abilities herself. It was because Matt had never learnt to cook, she proclaimed, that her parents had never thought to teach her before she left home. Hunk didn’t mind either way - it was another excuse for him to attempt new foods. 

It was weird how baking slowly became an outlet for Hunk. He always found himself baking when he was stressed, sad, homesick - if he did badly on a test, or he’d argued with Lance, or he’d messed up in the simulator. He could go for hours on end until his feelings had dissipated to practically nothing, failing to realise the sheer amount of food he could produce in that time. He was often amazed by it - the boy would often get so wound up in feelings he became completely immersed in cooking and forgot his surroundings. It all got eaten by somebody, though, so it was never too much of a waste. At least he was doing something productive, he reasoned.

The castleship was different. Lance had commended Hunk’s cooking skills to the others, and so they left the Samoan to his own devices when it came to food preparation, having little to no experience themselves. Hunk figured out pretty quickly that although the food replicator was fairly decent at managing to clone human foods, it could never quite create the exact textures and flavours he was familiar with. He had previously attempted to develop more intricate cloning technology with the help of Pidge and Coran with little success. Instead he resorted to spending a lot of time researching different edible plants on the planets they visited, collecting those he was sure were safe to add to dishes he concocted in an attempt to make the flavours more interesting. A lot of his meals were experimental - he wasn’t quite sure how these plants he gathered would taste. The team were always complimentary, even Allura and Coran, although Hunk often wondered if they were just trying to save his feelings.

The difference in food made him feel somewhat homesick - he missed the rich, flavourful Samoan dishes hec had been able to prepare on Earth. A lot of the food he produced in space was somewhat bland; some of the plants he found added interesting flavours, but many of them were practically tasteless. It was difficult to recreate the intricate flavours of Earth dishes with such limited resources, but he was careful to make clear notes on which plants and herbs did provide new flavours to his dishes in order to collect more.

Baking, on the other hand, was virtually impossible. There was very little to actually bake, and so he rarely did so after his incident with the ‘cookies’. As fights grew more frequent, though, his stress levels rose, and he found himself experimenting with all kinds of crazy ideas he would never have attempted previously. He needed some way to unwind, and this was the method he’d always used in past. It worked for him, even if his selection of ingredients was painfully limited and he had no recipe to follow. Lance and Pidge would occasionally sample his creations, but the strange tastes quickly put them both off it. Hunk didn’t really mind too much - often the alien species they held peace talks with were interested by his creations, and that got rid of them fairly quickly.

He also tried a few Altean recipes Allura had found, and although the strange appearances were less than appetising he soon discovered the flavours were almost as intricate as human food. They used a complex mixture of various plants and ingredients already aboard the ship - nothing from the food replicator, thankfully - and although they were initially a challenge to prepare, Hunk soon figured out the best measurements of various ingredients - some of the proportions recorded had seemed a little ridiculous on his first attempt - and was sure to make note of them. Allura and Coran were extremely grateful for his effort in recreating the food they would’ve once eaten on Altea, and Hunk was glad he could at least provide them with that memory. 

Whenever a member of the team felt homesick - Lance, more often than not - Hunk would attempt to recreate food from their home country. He’d always found comfort in the traditional meals of Samoa when he was homesick, both at the Garrison and in space, and he hoped to bring the same memories back to his teammates. It seemed to work, and even if it didn’t quite mean the same to them, his friends were touched by the extra effort he went to in an attempt to comfort them. Hunk didn’t mind at all; he knew how bad homesickness could be, and he would do anything to alleviate his friends’ sadness.

He also learnt he enjoyed cooking with the company of others. Back home, he had preferred to be left alone when he cooked or baked - talking to others distracted him, and he was extremely particular about the exact timings for his cooking. At the Garrison, Lance could be particularly irritated when he was trying to concentrate on perfectly seasoning a dish, and so he’d often force the boy out of the kitchen until he was finished. However on the castleship, he found having another person around to be quite relaxing - it gave him a little background noise if he wasn’t talking himself, and while things cooked he had somebody to talk to. Allura was his most frequent companion - the princess was incredibly kind, and offered to assist him in any way she could. He began to teach her a few cooking techniques he brought from Earth, as she clearly seemed to have an interest in cooking for herself. She was brought up always having meals prepared for her, she told him, being a princess. It was nice to able to do things for herself - feel normal, instead of being placed on a pedestal because of her title. Hunk admired Allura’s will to do things for herself; it was so easy for her to sit back and let people wait on here, but the woman was very much a do-it-yourself person. 

No matter how many people or who it was, Hunk would always volunteer to cook. It was something he enjoyed, something he was good at. He may not be the strongest pilot on the team, but at least he could provide for his team, and that made him happiest of all.


	7. Birthday

“Happy birthday Hunk!”

Hunk could feel his face flushing bright red at the sudden attention on him, glancing to one side in embarrassment as his teammates flung themselves at him. When he looked up, he saw all of them gathered around him with excited expressions, and he couldn’t help but he touched by the way they were all so excited about his birthday. 

“Hunk, you gotta see what Lance got you.” Pidge exclaimed, grabbing the tall boy’s hand and leading him to the sofas. She pushed him down, perching next to him and looking up at Lance. “Go get it, Lance!”

The Cuban nodded and left the room, heightening Hunk’s confusion all the more. “Pidge, what’s going-“ he began, only to be cut off by the small girl shushing him.

“Ssh. You’ll see in a minute.” she promised, gesturing for the others to sit down around them. Hunk smiled weakly at them, almost apologetic for Pidge’s overexcitement. Keith and Shiro perched down opposite from the pair, with Allura and Coran sitting down at the head of the semicircle. 

Shortly after everyone had taken a seat, Lance emerged with a large book in his hands. He sat down next to Hunk, gently placing it on the boy’s lap with a smile. “Happy birthday. I hope you like it.” he murmured, the happiness in his tone genuine.

The book was huge, and had a fair amount of weight to it. It was bound in thick, dark leather, with a nondescript cover and no markings anywhere as to a title or author. He turned it over in his hands, confusion etched across his face, before placing it back down and opening the cover.

The first page was covered in bright colours and glitter, with their first year Garrison photo in the centre. He immediately recommended the messy cursive of Lance’s handwriting, and the neater, slanted writing that he knew belonged to Pidge. Below that photo was their second year photo - only a slight improvement on the first year, Lance had commented in his somewhat difficult to read handwriting - and Hunk couldn’t help the smile that slowly began to spread across his features.

“Keep going!” Pidge urged from his side, and so Hunk turned the page to reach a double page spread. This one was covered in more photos from the Garrison, commented on by Pidge and Lance. There were photos from the parties they’d been to, the few trips they’d attended, events they’d participated in, official photos taken for the website and other formal documents - of course including the dreadful photo of Lance and Hunk that had made it onto the prospectus cover one year that become infamous between the trio. Lance still claimed to have a framed copy at his house in Cuba. The images stirred so many memories in Hunk, and he could feel the tears welling up in his eyes as he turned to the next page.

This one was different. There were no comments on these pages, only photos and little doodles. The photos were from home, he realised, and he wondered how they’d managed to obtain these. There a few family photos - even some of Hunk’s baby photos - and other photos from community events and the fundraisers to help Hunk get to the Garrison. The tears pricked in his eyes, threatening to spill over as he traced his eyes over the familiar features of his mothers and sister. Before he could cry, though, he turned the page again.

The next two pages were a collection of interesting mugshots from Lance’s Snapchat story, screenshotted and printed out with various comments written around them. Alongside Pidge and Lance’s writing was now the neat print he recognised as Shiro’s, and a smooth hand he could only guess would be Keith’s. Most of these photos were clearly taken by Lance, considering the blurry edges and terrible angles, not to mention the unflattering expressions most of them wore. Hunk let out a slightly choked laugh, the tears that had built up from the precious pages not quite gone yet. He turned over again, and was greeted by another vibrant page covered in photos, comments and doodles.

These were the better photos, submitted by all the different members of the team. Several of the photos were the selfies Lance insisted on taking with Hunk - he would always tell Hunk you could never take too many - and other shots of the team, the planets they’d visited, the people they’d met. The centre of one page was a photo of himself and Shay, one he didn’t even know had been taken all along, and he felt his heart pang at the memory of her. He hadn’t been able to see Shay in so long - they’d been so busy with other missions and peace talks, after all - but he’d promised to return to the Balmera and visit her as soon as he could. He intended to keep that promise. The other page featured a picture of the whole team in the centre, with various comments about how long it had taken to make that picture happen. They were right, though - they’d had to set up Lance’s phone on a timer so they could include Allura and Coran in the photo, but something had seemed to go wrong on every single attempt - the timer didn’t start, somebody wasn’t looking, the picture was blurry - and it must’ve taken at least an hour to get a half-decent image. Hunk found himself laughing at the memory, the tears beginning to dry up.

The next few pages were filled with more photos of the team and they people they’d met, with a few photos of his teammates in the mix. The entire thing was covered in copious amounts of glitter and sequins, which clearly showed Lance’s input, as well as little comments and inside jokes from all of the team members. 

They’d left the remainder of the book empty, Hunk discovered, “So you can add more photos!” Lance had explained when he asked why the book was mostly empty. He then insisted that Hunk turn to the back cover, and he did so quickly.

When he reached that back cover, he felt a tug at his heartstrings. The page was covered in messages from all his teammates, written in corresponding colours to their armour and lions to help differentiate on sight. He read through them slowly, being careful to not misread or miss any of them. 

_Dear Hunk,  
We haven’t known each other long, but I am eternally glad that I have that the opportunity to meet you and learn more about you. From day one you have been an invaluable member of the team - I will always be grateful that you were brought to me and became a paladin of Voltron.  
Happy birthday!  
Love, Allura xxx_

_To Hunk,  
I know we got off on the wrong foot at the Garrison, but ever since we’ve gotten to know each other better you’ve been a great friend and teammate. You’re a great person to be around and I hope you have a good birthday. You deserve the world for what you give.   
Keith._

_To my dearest friend Hunk,  
I feel like I’ve known you all my life, even though we first met at the Garrison. You’re the greatest person I know - I don’t know who I would’ve been able rely on for all those late night studying sprees and incredible meals that no college student should be able to make in a budget like ours. I'm so glad we’re still together even in space, and I hope we stay close forever (even once we’ve kicked Zarkon’s ass) and we never have to relive the pain that was Iverson’s simulator class.  
Big love,  
Lancey Lance Xx_

_To Hunk,  
Thanks for cooking for me at the Garrison, I would’ve starved without you.  
Really though you’re one of my best friends and I’m so glad we met, you’re super supportive and I hope you have the amazing birthday you deserve.  
Pidgeon x_

_Hunk-  
We only met briefly at the Garrison, but I have always admired your determination and that has not changed since you joined Team Voltron. You were at a clear disadvantage when we first arrived, and yet you rose to the challenge and have developed into a pilot I am extremely proud of. I wish you all the best.  
-Shiro_

_To Hunk,  
You’ve been the finest assistant I could’ve hoped for, and your talents run much further than just engineering! You are an extremely talented chef and paladin, and I hope you have the happiest birthday to date!  
Yours,  
Coran_

Hunk looked up, wiping the tears from his eyes as he met the expectant gazes of his friends. “I...l love you guys so much.” he murmured, letting the tears slip down his face. “Thank you.” 

“You know we love you too, Hunk.” Lance murmured, wrapping his arms tightly around his friend’s shoulders. “We left some space so Shay could add something when she gets here-“ he was cut off by Pidge slapping a hand across his mouth, and his eyes widened.

“That was supposed to be a surprise!” she hissed, rolling her eyes. 

“Wait, Shay is coming here? Today?” Hunk exclaimed, sitting up straight.

“We thought you’d like to see her,” Shiro admitted, smiling kindly at the boy. “Keith’s going to fetch her soon, so I'd recommend you go and get yourself ready.” 

“Myself and Lance will be preparing the finest meal you can imagine.” Coran piped up, smiling brightly at Hunk. 

Hunk nodded, laughing affectionately as he picked up the book and stood up. “Thank you, all of you. You guys have made this birthday the most special one yet.” he smiled, before making his way back to his room to prepare himself. 

It was shaping up to be the best birthday he’d ever had.


End file.
